


Quidditch and Kisses

by erial



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Marauders' Era, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-24
Updated: 2015-04-24
Packaged: 2018-03-25 14:23:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,315
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3813781
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/erial/pseuds/erial
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which a game of Quidditch takes a rather (un)surprising turn.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Quidditch and Kisses

“Wish me luck, Evans?” said a voice behind me.  
I turned and found myself facing none other than James Potter, adorned in his favorite clothes – Quidditch gear. His sport goggles were pushed up on his hair, making it look like he’d been electrocuted. The prat.  
“You wish,” I snorted, rolling my eyes and trying not to get swept up in the onslaught of eager Gryffindors vying for good seats. The wind was strong today, I noticed, but they’d never call off the match. Not even in such stormy conditions. My skirt whipped around my legs. “I’d only do it for the good of the team.”  
It was Potter’s turn to roll his eyes. “Like we’d need it, anyway.”  
He started to walk by me, but I grabbed his arm. “But . . . Be safe out there, okay?” His hazel eyes were surprised beneath their brows, but only for a moment. He gave a cocky grin, and with a slight nod, walked away.  
I didn’t realize I was staring after him until Marlene McKinnon, my best friend, appeared at my side. “Um, hello?” she said, waving a hand in front of my face. Potter’s swaggering step disappeared from my mind as I turned to face her. Her wavy hair was tangled from the wind, and she was clinging to Sirius’ hand.  
“Shouldn’t you be getting ready for the match?” I asked, eyeing his lack of a broomstick.  
Sirius gave a noncommittal shrug. “I’ve got ten minutes. Besides, what’s our fearless leader going to do? Kick me off?”  
“The fearless leader in question being James, if I’m not mistaken,” I half stated, half questioned. “You really need to work on that element of respect for your captain, you know.”  
Marlene snorted, but wisely chose not to comment – which was probably due to the fact that she had no desire to be hexed by me, rather than personal discretion. Instead, she stood on her tiptoes and kissed Sirius. Watching Marlene and Sirius was more than a bit awkward. It was disgusting. Within seconds they were in a full-out snogging session, leaving me to my own devices.  
Not that said devices were interesting – but I did find an excellent spot in the front of the boxes, right between the ends of the pitch. I tore off my hat, which was blowing around anyway, and tossed it on the seat next to me for Marlene. On my other side was Remus Lupin, who happened to be one of my best friends. Before I could get a word of hello out, however, Marlene was back. Without noting the hat, she dropped into the seat, cheeks pink and lips swollen.  
Remus raised an eyebrow, but didn’t say anything to her. “Lovely weather we’re having,” he said dryly. Not a moment too soon, his scarf flew up on the wind and smacked him in the face, sending Marlene and I into uncontrollable fits of laughter.  
I couldn’t help but think that if the rest of my life was like this – being with friends, laughing until I couldn’t breathe, the noise of an excited sport crowd around me – I would be happy. Even if I never did sort out what I thought of James bloody Potter (which got more confusing by the day), I wanted to have a life like this. Just as Marlene and I regained control of ourselves, the teams walked out onto the pitch.  
The Hufflepuffs appeared on one side, led by Amos Diggory. On the other, the Gryffindors, led by James. He and Amos shook hands (which, as Marlene had noted, was ironic – the two rival heartthrobs of Hogwarts pretending to like each other), mounted their brooms, and the game began.  
The wind had picked up, if that was possible. Trees bent in it unwillingly, branches breaking off and swirling in the air. Meanwhile, the Gryffindors sped toward the Hufflepuff goals, Quaffle tucked securely under Sirius’ arm. With a roar from the crowd, he hurled the ball into the hoop, earning Gryffindor the lead. James circled above, giving a fist pump at the points.  
The game went back and forth like that for a while – but Gryffindor somehow, despite its original lead, kept falling behind. I could see the players getting more and more frustrated.  
Suddenly, James went into a colossal dive. Everyone thought the wind must have knocked him off-balance by the way he sped to the ground. We rushed forward to the edge of the stands, but we couldn’t see him. Suddenly, with a whoosh of air, he was hovering in front of me, without the Snitch in hand.  
“Hey there, Evans,” he said casually, as though we were standing in a corridor.  
“Hey yourself, Potter,” I replied, trying to keep calm. “Don’t you have a game to play?”  
He gave a casual shrug, pushing his goggles back up on his head. “I guess. But I wanted to, I dunno, give you something.” James shifted nervously on his broom.  
“Oh?”  
“Yeah,” he breathed, leaning forward and grasping the barrier in his gloved hands. Tipping forward on his broom, he came closer and closer until . . . until . . .  
Suddenly we were kissing in front of the entire school. Nothing else mattered – not the catcalls in the background, or the fact that Gryffindor was probably losing points while we kissed, or that Sirius was yelling at James to focus. It was something I never thought I’d enjoy, kissing James Potter. But I did.  
He pulled away, but too sharply. James was tumbling toward the ground uncontrollably, arms flailing. This wasn’t one of his perfect, controlled dives. A collective shriek went through the crowd; a scream caught in my throat as I saw the Bludger that he’d been hit with shooting off in the opposite direction.  
I shoved past the others and sprinted down the rickety steps. Too long, I thought. I was taking too long to get to James. I nearly fell and was caught by a whiskery old professor; I kept running without thanking him. Finally, I burst out of the seating area and ran to wear he lay in a crumpled heap.  
My first thought, upon reaching him, was surprise. In his hand, he clutched the Snitch, which still struggled to free itself. I dropped beside him and gently rolled him over. His cloak spread out behind him like some great king’s banner.  
His eyes were closed. My heart froze, but I leaned down to listen for his. A soft thud reached my ears, immersing me in relief. I heard a weak whisper of “Lily?”  
I looked up, and to my relief, James’ eyes were open and he was struggling to sit up. “Shh, stay down,” I murmured, not really knowing what else to do. I grasped his face in my hands and leaned over him. “Merlin, James, you scared me. Are you okay?”  
He looked up at me dazedly. “Seems like I’m fine now,” he replied.  
I gave a laugh. If he was making jokes, he couldn’t be that badly hurt, could he? “I’m so sorry,” I whispered. “That was all my fault.”  
“No it wasn’t,” James disagreed sternly. “I’m the one who kissed you. We won the game, right?”  
“Well, yeah, but maybe if I hadn’t kissed you back, you wouldn’t have fallen, and-“  
“Bloody hell, Lily, do me a favor and shut up.” He rolled his eyes. “I’m fine.” A devilish smile played around his lips, and James sat up carefully. “Great, actually.”  
I pushed a piece of hair out of my face and cupped his hands in mine. The enormity of everything that had just happened crashed down on me. I had not only just kissed James Potter; I had actually run to him when he had a Quidditch accident. And now, here I was, holding his hands.  
And despite the fact that now the entire school was watching us, I didn’t mind. I didn’t mind at all.


End file.
